RIPD is a bloated blockbuster that squanders a promising premise in favour of soulless set-pieces and ejaculatory explosions of CGI. The clumsy feel of a TV pilot permeates proceedings, as the story, structure and characterisation all flap around awkwardly in a bid to find their feet before surrendering to a hideously generic final act. The talented trio of Jeff Bridges, Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Bacon never stood a chance with such a muddled script.

Adapted from the popular comic book series, RIPD seeks to fuse the supernatural charms of Ghostbusters with the rookie-teams-up-with-veteran dynamic from Men in Black. The plot pairs Reynolds's recently deceased detective Nick Walker with Bridges's similarly dead sheriff Roy Pulsifer, with the duo returned to Earth by the Rest In Peace Department to protect the living. For a horde of evil creatures, in tandem with Kevin Bacon's crooked cop, refuse to slip quietly into the afterlife.

The same can't be said of this movie, which trudges off into the great beyond with its devilish tail between its legs as the end credits roll at a mercifully abrupt and early stage. Much of the early promise, revolving around Jeff Bridges's appealing and effervescent turn as the coyote-obsessed law enforcer, is jettisoned in favour of overfamiliar spectacle that fails (like in so many movies) to justify the use of 3D on an artistic level.

Director Robert Schwentke undoubtedly has a keen eye, favouring long takes reliant on energetic camerawork. Yet he should remember that visual fireworks mean little if we don't have credible characters or intriguing scenarios to engage with. Furthermore, such is the increasing desperation to shoehorn some laughs into proceedings that one initially amusing sight gag - involving Roy and Nick being seen by the living in markedly different 'avatars' - is recycled several times over.

Attempts to give our nominal hero Nick an air of ambiguity fail to work, as his shady past dealings and abrasive treatment of his loveable partner Roy only make him look like, for want of a more eloquent word, a dick. No amount of Ryan Reynolds moping around with teary, puppy dog eyes and pining for his wife can redress this balance and elicit the empathy needed to make us root for his character.

In the hotly contested summer blockbuster race, RIPD was effectively DOA. More attention appears to have been paid towards honing the special effects than making sure the script translated the source material to the big screen in an effective manner. Jeff Bridges singlehandedly manages to inject life into this tale of the dead with his anachronistic and charming performance. But like the audience, he deserves so much better.